Fresno's River Park Farmers Market raises money for Maui

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The River Park Farmers Market celebrated Hawaii Tuesday night.

The theme night was planned a month ago before the devastating fires tore through the island of Maui. Initially, organizers were going to drop the theme, in light of the wildfire, but then the executive director spoke with a friend who lives in Lahaina. That friend encouraged him to turn it into a benefit night.

"Yes there was a fire, yes a lot of people died... but there's a lot of people that need help," said Peter DeYoung, Executive Director of the California Fresh Farmers Market Association and Founder of the River Park Farmers Market.

Throughout River Park, there were signs with QR codes taking visitors to the Farmers Market's GoFundMe page for the United Way of Maui fire relief fund.

Earlier in the day, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state's Office of Emergency Services will send 101 state and local government personnel to help in Hawaii.

That includes an Urban Search and Rescue task force, three wildfire debris removal experts, and a 69-member incident management team from Cal Fire.

All are resources that will help as Hawaii works to rebuild what was destroyed on Maui.

"We have family out there, it's devastating for them. We send our love out to them. We do have people there on the ground helping. Any sort of donation helps, praying helps. We're all in prayer for the people out there," said Leo Kuma, from the Polynesian Club of Fresno.

He said he was touched to see so many people supporting the fundraiser night at River Park.

The club performed a number of dances, including a special tribute.

"We're sharing a beautiful hula called the prayer, which was originally done by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. We're doing the Hawaiian version of that, and it's to honor those who have passed on," said Kuma.

For news updates, follow Nic Garcia on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.